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Monday, September 30, 2013

The Secret Diamond Sisters will be published by Harlequin TEEN on February 25, 2014

Savannah. Courtney. Peyton.

The three sisters grew up not knowing their father and not quite
catching a break. But it looks like their luck is about to change when
they find out the secret identity of their long-lost dad—a billionaire
Las Vegas hotel owner who wants them to come live in a gorgeous
penthouse hotel suite. Suddenly the Strip's most exclusive clubs are
all-access, and with an unlimited credit card each, it should be easier
than ever to fit right in. But in a town full of secrets and illusion,
fitting in is nothing compared to finding out the truth about their
past.

Michelle
Madow wrote her first novel, Remembrance, in her junior year of
college. Remembrance is the first book in the Transcend Time Saga, a
three part series about reincarnation and true love that Michelle
successfully self-published. The series was inspired by Taylor Swift's
"Love Story" music video. Michelle's upcoming YA trilogy, The Secret
Diamond Sisters, about three sisters who discover they are the secret
heirs to a Las Vegas billionaire casino owner will be published by
Harlequin TEEN in Spring 2014.

Michelle graduated from Rollins
College in 2010, cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in English. She is a
member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and the
International English Honor Society Sigma Tau Delta. She received the
Charles Hyde Pratt Award for Excellence in Creative Writing in 2010.

She lives in Boca Raton, Florida,
where she is writing more novels for young adults. She loves reading,
spending time with family and friends, traveling, shopping, sunshine,
Disney fairy tales, Broadway musicals, and spends way too much time on
Facebook and Twitter.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Kate
O'Hara's favorite outfit washer blue windbreaker with the letters FBI
written in yellow on the back, worn over a basic black T-shirt and
matching black Kevlar vest.

Summary:

FBI Special Agent Kate O’Hare is known for her fierce dedication
and discipline on the job, chasing down the world’s most wanted
criminals and putting them behind bars. Her boss thinks she is
tenacious and ambitious; her friends think she is tough, stubborn,
and maybe even a bit obsessed. And while Kate has made quite a name
for herself for the past five years, the only name she’s cared
about is Nicolas Fox—an international crook she wants in more ways
than one.Audacious, handsome, and dangerously charming, Nicolas
Fox is a natural con man, notorious for running elaborate scams on
very high-profile people. At first he did it for the money. Now he
does it for the thrill. He knows that the FBI has been hot on his
trail—particularly Kate O’Hare, who has been watching his every
move. For Nick, there’s no greater rush than being pursued by a
beautiful woman . . . even one who aims to lock him up. But just when
it seems that Nicolas Fox has been captured for good, he pulls off
his greatest con of all: he convinces the FBI to offer him a job,
working side by side with Special Agent Kate O’Hare.Problem is,
teaming up to stop a corrupt investment banker who’s hiding on a
private island in Indonesia is going to test O’Hare’s patience
and Fox’s skill. Not to mention the skills of their ragtag team
made up of flamboyant actors, wanted wheelmen, and Kate’s dad.
High-speed chases, pirates, and Toblerone bars are all in a day’s
work . . . if O’Hare and Fox don’t kill each other first.

As you
probably all know by now, I am a huge fan of Janet's writing and when
I discovered that she started writing a new crime series with Lee
Goldberg, who is a screenwriter for TV series like Monk, I knew I had
to have this book as soon as it is published. Two days after the
official release date I went to my local bookstore and checked if The
Heist was available, which isn't always the case in Austria, bought
it, read it and loved it!

The Heist
is the beginning of the O'Hare and Fox series and the perfect
introduction. I loved the storyline, the characters and the plot was
really unique. Nick Fox is FBI-Agent Kate O'Hare's greatest enemy and
she can't think of anything better than finally bring him in. Nick,
who's a clever con-artist, however manages to escape imprisonment due
to a great deal he negotiates with Kate's boss. Now she is stuck with
him.

Kate is
the super though FBI-Agent who's sole purpose in life is catching the
bad guys and who hasn't really got a life outside her job. She must
not always stick to the rules but when her boss informs her that
she'll be working with Nick Fox she isn't thrilled and cannot believe
how she deserves being on a mission with him.

Nick is
the cool and relaxed con-artist whom nobody and nothing can surprise
and who seems to always be one step ahead of Kate and all the others.

Together
the find a team who's crazy enough to pull one hell of a con and each
and every one of the team members is hilarious and truly amazing.

I read
this book on my way to work and had to laugh out loud more than once,
which always brought me a mixture of confused and amused looks from
all the other commuters.

If you
like crime stories and are looking for a highly entertaining book,
pick this one up. The Heist is one of the best books I read this
year.

Friday, September 20, 2013

Fall Bloggiesta runs from today to Sunday and gives us all the opportunity to set aside a special time to work on all those little things that need fixing on our blogs. For more information visit the Bloggiesta Homepage.

Here's what I am planning to do over the weekend:

write reviews (23 to write)

update my List of Review

plan my Second Blogoversary

update my About page

update my Bookish Buddies

update links

I hope I'll get everything done but the most important thing is to have fun!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Fascination of Steampunk

This was originally posted on the 6th of August on Once Upon A Time for Clockwork Carnival

Have you ever wondered what Steampunk is exactly?

According to Wikipedia:“Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction that typically features
steam-powered machinery, especially in a setting inspired by
industrialized Western civilization during the 19th century. Therefore,
steampunk works are often set in an alternative history of the 19th
century’s British Victorian era or American “Wild West”, in a
post-apocalyptic future during which steam power has regained mainstream
use, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power.
Steampunk perhaps most recognizably features anachronistic technologies
or retro-futuristic inventions as people in the 19th century might have
envisioned them, and is likewise rooted in the era’s perspective on
fashion, culture, architectural style, and art.”

Steampunk is up and coming not only in the YA genre but all over the
place. Since 2009 many great Steampunk series such as Gail Carriger’s
Parasol Protectorate novels (Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless,
Timeless), Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan trilogy (Leviathan, Behemoth,
Goliath) and Cassandra Clare’s The Infernal Devices trilogy (Clockwork
Angel, Clockwork Prince, Clockwork Princess) were published and since
2003 with the release of the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
the film industry produced many Steampunky movies such as Van Helsing
(2004), The Golden Compass (2007) and both Sherlock Holmes movies
starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law (2009 and 2011 with a third film
that should come out in 2015).

Everywhere
you look Steampunk is a thing right now and everyone knows the term.
Many can name certain books or movies that deal with this theme and
almost everyone knows that Jules Verne’s works could be classified as
Steampunk although he lived from 1828 to 1905.
In my family Steampunk is well known, not only because I read a lot
and there are a fair amount of Steampunk novels on my shelves but also
because my uncle and my cousin’s long-term girlfriend are huge Steampunk
fans. Whenever I see my uncle we start talking about Steampunk and last
year he decided to transform my aunt’s office into a Steampunky one. It
matches their house perfectly and in June I finally had a chance to
look at it and I have to tell you it is fabulous. My cousin’s girlfriend
got Steampunk jewelry for Christmas and when I was talking to Hannah
about her Clockwork Carnival I immediately had an idea for a blog post.

I asked my uncle, my cousin’s girlfriend and Hannah what fascinates them about Steampunk.
Here are their answers:
My uncle, who is so not a reader at all, told me that he is
fascinated by the huge variety of things that can be seen as Steampunk.
The small machines that consist of so many components and are all built
with love and devotion, the different takes on Steampunk films, that
Jules Verne experimented with this genre over a hundred years ago and
that he is seen as the “Godfather of Steampunk”.

My cousin’s girlfriend sees Steampunk as something special and
unique. For her those little hidden gems of Steampunk are those things
that fascinates her the most. There are so many different ways of
expressing your love of Steampunk and so many different people loving
this genre.

I love the variety of Steampunk – it can be found in books, films,
jewelry, fashion, etc. It is a way of life! Exploring all those
different ways the genre expresses itself and stumbling over little
hidden references towards Steampunk is something I appreciate a lot.
Whenever I read a Steampunk novel I can see the story evolve before my
inner eye because all of those I read are written so well and suck you
into their world. Every time someone talks to me about Steampunk I see a
dark, dusty and foggy London and cannot help but smile. For me this
genre lives from the huge variety and the large amount of feelings it
awakens in all of us. Steampunk is unique and combines the love of the
old (aka Victorian times) with modern features (aka the machines and
inventions) and a very special way of transporting them either via
screen or via the pages of a book, which clearly is my favorite way of
experiencing Steampunk.

When I asked Hannah she wrote the following:
”Ooh good question.. Steampunk is unlike any genre out there. You
find it as a setting for fantasy novels, a world in urban fantasy, and
the stories in Science Fiction. It can be subtle and flamboyant and it
is fascinating to see how different authors use it. However, it is also
so much more. For many Steampunkians it is a culture and a way to
express themselves. There are so many aspects to Steampunk and I love to
explore them all.”

And with this wonderful declaration of love to Steampunk I will leave
you now but not without asking you why you are fascinated with this
genre and what is your number one book or film you can recommend me
reading/watching?

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Top Ten
Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and Bookish.This week the girls want to know myTop Ten Books On My Fall 2013 TBR List

If you followed my blog for a while now, you might know that I am not good with sticking to TBR lists. I will still tell you which books I would like to read during fall but it might happen that I in the end read many other books and non from my list - whoops!

I also bought some Debby Books. What do you mean you are not familiar with Debby Books. Debby, or Snuggly Oranges as she is known in the Book Blogging Community, is the queen of recommendations. This week I got some from her and felt the immediate need to buy them and that's what I did. All of these were bought as e-books.

Friday, September 13, 2013

At the beginning of the summer I bought an annual ticket for the local zoo in Vienna. I always loved going to the zoo. When I was a little kid my mum took me to the zoo regularly and even when I grew older I loved going. Over the years many things changed at the zoo - cages where rebuilt and enlarged, new animals came, the panda bears got three puppies (the last one two weeks ago), ...

At the beginning of September I went there again and took some (around 500) pictures.

The panda mum days before shegot her new baby bear.

Me and my mum love the red panda - one of the cutest animals I know!

Hippo mum and hippo baby

The meerkats recently got puppies too.

Seal love

The penguins had chicks too.

The Andean Bear was just hanging around!

One of the Rhinos was exploring.

Bison

I adored the otters. We have two and they are the cutest, smelling little animals.